Rebecca Sokol

My anxiety is based in the stomach. It’s normally calm and blue, but wounds allow the violent yellow of fear to pour through. Color is used in these pieces to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, similar to an uneasy portrait. I want you to feel how I feel. It’s not pleasant, and it’s disgusting. To make my work I use any material that looks disgusting and unappetizing when covered in glue—a physical manifestation of how anxiety hits my guts with grotesque layers of glue, paint, and fabrics. I staple parts of a good painting into a mess of paint to where it is unidentifiable. Yarn falls and sticks and comes loose as easily as intestines. If you are at any point repulsed, then you’re able to see the fear. You may feel the anxiety, but you may or may not be able to physically walk away. Look at your guts and leave them behind.